Missing You
by AlishaChristine
Summary: Draco is murdered by his father and is granted with the opportunity for a second chance in life if he can get the one person who hates him most to miss him. That person is the only one who can see, hear, and feel him, and that person is Hermione. DMHG
1. Hostility

Hullo readers it's been a while since I've posted a new fanfiction, ha, or written a new chapter, but here it is! A new story! Woohoo for that! Lol this is a Draco/Hermione and I hope to do it a justice! Ummm…enjoy!

The summary has been changed a few times, but now I am satisfied with this one: Draco Malfoy is murdered by his father, he is granted with the opportunity for a second chance in life if he can get the one person who hates him most to miss him. That person is the only one who can see, hear, and feel him, and that person is Hermione Granger. HG/DM

Chapter one: Hostility

The strong scent of coffee wafted through the air; it wasn't the average scent of coffee, no, no! The coffee in the CEO's office was the finest, riches, freshest coffee, and of course, the most expensive coffee money could buy! The sweet aroma filled the prestigious office of a fragrance of mocha, heavy cream, and potent vanilla, but not every employee could partake of this caffeine filled splendor, only the CEO could sip this ideal drink, why, he _was_ the CEO of course! He _needed_ it. He could only drink, eat, sit in, stare at, write with etc., with the finest materials, because he of course, was the finest, most important person in the company. No, he was the finest person in the wizarding world…or rather, the world entirely!

He sneered as he sipped his coffee delight, oh how he loved flattering himself. He set the mug of coffee on his grand oak desk; careful to put it in a spot where it was close enough for reach, but not too close to where he might accidentally knock it over. It would be quite an embarrassment if he were to spill it's delectable contents over the smooth surface of the oak desk, the business papers which were _quite_ consequential to his company, or his robes which were irreplaceable! They were custom made, Italian tailored to be exact, and to tarnish such a robe, _even_ with the most wonderful coffee known to man, was a sin!

The marvelously attractive, impeccably wonderful, immensely rich wizard leaned back in his large business chair (that too was a fortune itself in all it's glory, top of the line, no doubt) and placed his feet on the large, oak desk. He crossed his ankles so he could stare at the black shine in his shoes. He smirked, oh how he loved being so perfect.

He reached for his coffee mug and sipped it, loving every minute of his day, when suddenly his secretary burst into his office, "Mr. Malfoy!" she exclaimed, startling him quite a bit! And in this astonishment, he jumped, making his coffee slosh in it's porcelain mug, making some of it's contents spill on his Italian tailored, custom made robes, burning his perfect skin, making his body jerk AGAIN causing MORE coffee to spill, causing him to become even more infuriated!

Draco Malfoy's steely eyes bore holes into the amber eyes of his secretary. WHY oh WHY had he hired her? "WHAT?!" He barked, _oh this had better be good_ he thought, but nothing could have been good enough to interrupt his, HIS Draco time!

"I-he-er…" she stuttered like a moron, shaking her bushy head frantically. She was quite agitated and panic stricken he noticed, not that he cared of course. It actually amused him more.

"Get it out Granger, WHY did you barge in here like that? Don't you have decent manners? I suppose not, seeing you _are_ a Mudblood after all." He smirked triumphantly; tears were forming in her eyes. This half surprised him, she normally would brush off a comment like this, but something else seemed to be the matter (once again, he could care less, his Italian robes were soiled for Draco-the-sex-god's sake!). In all actuality she had been a good secretary, the best actually (seeing he _had_ to have the best) she was proficient, made _wonderful_ coffee and was very intelligent. She _had_ graduated top in their years at Hogwarts, but of course, he would _always_ be better, for he was Pureblood, and she was slime. Smart slime, but slime non-the less.

In all her distress she managed to gasp, (and Draco hardly could decipher what she was babbling about, but from what he could understand she said,) "your father- Azkaban-broke out- is here- kill you- "

Draco's stormy gray eyes widened. He was not afraid of his father, but he immensely hated the fool. He had soiled the Malfoy's perfect name, which was bad enough, but for him to come to Malfoy Industries to murder him was _really_ crossing the line.

"He's already using the killing curse on the lower levels, you have to do something, we'll all be killed!" she gasped as tears streaked her freckled cheeks.

He scowled down at her. "Get as many employees out of here, I'll deal with _him_," he spat, "just get as many people as you can out of here, _safe_. That shouldn't be too hard for you, seeing you were _such_ a hero at school." He had begun to quickly make his way to the elevator. "Just sound an announcement telling everyone to apparate home." He swore at himself as he realized that it would take FAR too long to ride the elevator, he rounded to face a trembling Hermione. "What floor is he on currently?" he barked.

"Fourth" she whispered.

Without another word Draco Malfoy disapperated with a loud _crack._

* * *

On the fourth floor of Malfoy Industries everything was deathly silent. Draco scanned the large business hall and tried to examine who could be concealed inside the cubicles that were on the premises. He walked slowly, keeping his senses sharp about him, clutching his wand ready to strike if he saw any sign of his father. As he tread vigilantly through the narrow walking space between the cubicles, he could hear the soft tapping of his shiny leather shoes against the marble swirled tile below him. Other than that there was earsplitting silence.

As Draco turned into another row of the cubicle maze, he found himself in front of the lifeless body of an employee who he couldn't identify. As he approached it tentatively, he wondered if the man were dead. _Most likely_, he thought, it wasn't like Lucius to forfeit the opportunity to murder someone when he could. Draco stepped over the man's body, trying not to look at his frightened, pale face as he continued on through the cubicle maze.

He knew his father would be aware of where he was, which meant he was on the premises. Lucius probably had got wind of the proposition Draco was contemplating about letting Muggles work in shops owned by him. They would be in the Muggle world, of course, and there would be a large skyscraper built there to signify Malfoy Industries and all it's important aspects, just the "big boss" wouldn't work there at all times. All-important paperwork would be sent there, Granger would pick them up, and deliver it to him. It was an enticing deal; it would bring plenty of money to his Gringotts vault and quite a lot of power in both worlds. In all actuality, it was a win-win situation, the Muggles would get to view his beautiful face on billboards and commercials on that odd television (whatever that was)of theirs, and he in turnbecame even _more_ filthy rich…but Lucius would _not_ have it, Draco was sure.

It had been quite a few years since St. Potter had brought the downfall of the Dark Lord, and with his death the belief in the bloodlines died as well. Plus, Purebloods were getting worried about how their children would turn out, since incest was starting to turn up because of the few Purebloods left. No one cared if you were half-blood, Muggle born, or Pureblood. But Lucius Malfoy would always think of himself as a superior…and so would Draco.

But having money and power amongst the Muggles was _not_ something Draco would turn down, even _if_ he were taught to despise them. And perhaps another reason Lucius wanted to murder his son was because Draco had betrayed him and "didn't take his rightful place as a respectable follower of the Dark Lord." _Rubbish_, Draco thought sneering. _Looks like that would have done a lot of good._ He would have ended up like his father, rotting away in Azkaban. He honestly doubted Lucius would have helped him escape. Every man for himself was something his father believed in.

Draco had to reestablish the family name, after his father brought it down in shambles by getting caught as a Death Eater. So in turn, Draco _hadn't_ been handed everything in his life, he had to restore his family name on his own, which was excruciatingly difficult and it took _loads_ of donations to the Ministry and to other charities and funds. Now that he had made himself a respectable man in the business world (and _Witch Weekly's_ #1 hottest bachelor of the year) his father wanted to destroy it all by murdering him! That would not be tolerated. Draco would make sure to give him what he had coming…_a quick flash of emerald light…then…black._ The infamous Malfoy sneer was placed upon his face as he thought of this.

He mentally prepared himself for a very arduous fight with his father; it would be a confrontation like no other. He would make sure of it. _Pity no witnesses would be here to view it,_ he thought, smirking. That way he would have landed himself as a hero in the papers…but he _was_ a hero in the papers anyway. So it didn't really matter.

He now had reached the center of the large maze, and he had seen or heard any sort of sign from Lucius. His gray eyes tore through his surroundings, straining for some sort of movement in the slightest. He figured his father was either disillusioned or was wearing an invisibility cloak, and if he were disillusioned Draco would be able to see slight movements in his background, unless Lucius was holding perfectly still. Draco rolled his eyes. His father wasn't stupid, he would have gotten his slimy hands on an invisibility cloak, and he would strike at the opportune moment, using the theme of surprise to his advantage…it was just _too_ predictable, it almost bored Draco.

The thought of Lucius going to a higher level had of course crossed his mind, but it wasn't likely. The whole time Draco scanned the room and walked through the maze he could feel his father's dark and unmistakable presence. He could feel his cold, hard glare upon him, he could see the gray eyes peering down at him in his mind's eye, but he just didn't know _where_ he was exactly.

And then he heard it…the faint sound of ragged breathing. It was not the sound someone makes when out of breath, as if he had been running, but it was the breathing that one does when extremely furious. When that hate and anger builds up inside of the person, where you clench your fists and grit your teeth, doing anything to subside your anger, or wait till it builds full scale so you can attack in _all_ your glorious rage. It was Lucius he just knew it! He knew where he was, and he was rather close, Draco's twisted smile once again appeared on his face as he tried to decipher for sure where he was going to strike. He could feel his heart beat quite quickly as the adrenaline built up inside of him. He could feel his chest rise and fall at a quick pace, each breath he took was shallow and fast…and then he realized that the sound of breathing he heard was _not_ his father's, but his own.

With that realization, he decided that he was even _more_ infuriated than before. "I know you're hear." He said in a low growl that came from the back of his throat. "Come out and show yourself, or are you too frightened to face your son?" Taunting his father was a sure way to make him appear he was sure! And then he would kill the fool once and for all.

He was ready for it all, he was ready for the initiative shock of when he would see his father step from beneath an invisibility cloak. He imagined he would be standing _right_ in front of him, and Lucius would have a contorted face full of malice and insanity, his hair would be filthy and falling out, graying even (if you could tell from the already white blonde sheen of it). And he would be insane, completely insane. And Draco would kill him.

But that was _not_ what happened at all. Draco never saw his father, nor was he standing in front of him. All he heard was a sudden rush, like an enormous gust of wind, and a blinding emerald light flashed very quickly through the room…he didn't even feel the impact. It was all so sudden. Before he could even react he was consumed in the Death Curse, and his world was black.

* * *

Well, that's chapter one! I hope you liked! Please tell me what you think I really wanted to do a HG/DM story, but I couldn't think of a good plot that was original and such, this isn't _too_ bizarre is it? It will be quite interesting if YOU keep me interested with reviews mwahaha! I don't accept flames, why? Read my profile and it gives you my policy on flames. Constructive criticism is indeed welcomed! Please tell me if I've made any silly spelling errors, spell checker over looks SO many, and I myself am _not_ a very good speller! U I'd have this edited by my lovely friend, but I really don't feel like waiting for it heh. I have most of chapter two plotted out in my head, so if I get nice reviews I'll start on it right away!

**A lovely reviewer of mine pointed out to me that I was quite the adjective happy person in this chapter, and yes, I was, and it was for a reason. This chapter is from Draco's perspective (like Harry in the books) and he was well...flattering himself. It's all quite an earful when you read it, how perfect he is and such, but it isn't like that the whole story. I just wanted to set up the fact that he is EXTREMELY egotistical in this story (oh it's so very fun to write) on now, go on, read the other chapters and REVIEW!**

Thanks to my darling Niki for encouraging me I love you with all my heart! You are such a wonderful best friend!


	2. The One Who Hates You Most

Yay! I'm back! Thank you guys sooooooo much! I'm glad you all like it! -passes out yummy candies to the nice reviewers-

Delayed Action Ninja: blushes I'm glad you enjoyed it all I hope to keep you reading!

Avocado75: heh, I was quite the thesaurus happy kid in the last chapter wasn't I? 3 thank you for the constructive criticism, it really helps me!

Ottis Wheely: Here's the next chapter!!!

witchchild280: I'm glad that I was successfully able to built tension with the attack! I really worried it would be too rushed, and you can't help but love Draco's egotistical self! 3 It's so fun writing his character.

Babygoogoo2: All will be revealed quite soon…3 but I'm glad you asked, because it does seem a bit out of character for her to be working under him. I'm very glad someone spotted that and asked!

Foxer: I noticed that after I posted heh but I'm too lazy to fix it, I'm always messing up with "here" and "hear" I need to work on that 

Lucifer's Garden: I loved your comment Prodding is fun, so now I can prod you back to tell you to review! PROD review! Heh

Slyswn28: I'm glad you liked the plotline!

LillaBella: Thank you for reading my story! Once again, Draco is quite silly when drunk heh that really amused me when I read that bit.

Disclaimer: I realized I didn't have a disclaimer in the last chapter, but since I don't want some idiot canning me for it, I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER! Maybe there will be a few added characters for some flavor, but I really don't think I'll add any major oc's (I don't really like them much) but anyone you do recognize from the HP books, you KNOW they aren't mine. You aren't STUPID, I know you arent because if I was the owner of Harry Potter and all the characters, Hermione/Draco would happen and well…yeah. It would happen lol. I don't do disclaimers on every chapter, I just forget a lot, so HERE! You now have proof that I'm not claiming these wonderful characters as my own! But I can say the plot is mine I haven't seen one like it yet!

Onto what you care about. Chapter two!!!

* * *

**The One Who Hates You Most**

"You think he died?"

"Well, it wouldn't really be a _bad_ thing if he did…"

"Well Hermione, I agree completely. But I didn't really think you'd be really…I don't know…ecstatic about him turning up daisies. Well, to the public anyway."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her tea. "Ginny, I'm not rejoicing of his death to the public; you_ aren't_ the public. And plus, we don't even know if he's dead! Besides, he's _Malfoy_; him dying isn't going to really make me burst into tears or anything…well scratch that. I feel an overwhelming desire to burst into tears of joy."

Ginny snorted. "I suppose you're right, this calls for a party, don't you think?"

She grinned. "Any excuse to get drunk, right?"

The redhead's expression was that of complete mock surprise, as if it was entirely absurd for her to take any excuse to get drunk. Then she grinned and shrugged. "Nah, it's just _real_ fun to see Harry table dance."

They both burst into a fit of hysteria reminiscing on the past New Year's Eve party where the Boy Who Lived got a little _too_ buzzed.

"But seriously Hermione, if Malfoy was killed, that means Lucius is out on the lose still, and it _also_ means that you have to find a new job."

Hermione sipped the last of her tea before answering. "Well, I suppose it's worse if Malfoy senior is on the lose, seeing his is a homicidal maniac and all…but losing my job isn't something I'm quite worried about." She grinned.

Ginny tapped her nails on the empty porcelain teacup before Hermione waved her wand to clean the dishes away. "Thank you," she said politely, then continued on with the conversation. "I still don't see why you took up that job in the first place. You always complain about how terrible it is."

"Well it isn't like I had any choice in that matter! That prat had every employer with an opening scared out of their wits if they even thought about accepting me as an employee. They couldn't accept me with out getting themselves fired, since he basically owns the whole wizarding job industry." She added, rolling her eyes. "I should have gone to Hogwarts to teach, but there wasn't a job opening, and I really needed a way of income. If Malfoy's out of the way, then I should be able to find a very well paying job in no time."

Which was true, she was a very proficient worker and everyone knew that. She could make a very big name of herself, not that she already had when she assisted Harry in the defeat of Voldemort. But doing that wasn't going to get her enough money to support herself comfortably, and even if she did she wouldn't take it. She had worked at the Ministry as a secretary in the Auror department after Hogwarts. That hadn't required her to go through the Auror Academy, however, all it pertained to was a lot of busy work. She filed papers on the different leads of who and where Death Eaters were, but she didn't really help solve many of the mysteries that those files contained. That was an Auror's job, not hers. But after the war was over, and nearly all Death Eaters captured, there wasn't a need for her, so she was let go of…which was a nice way to say she was fired on the spot.

It didn't take long before a flood of job offers had come her way, a lot of nice ones too, but one she received was from Draco Malfoy about her being his personal assistant, which she refused immediately. He of course, being himself, made it so she couldn't get a job other than the one he offered her…so to support herself she _had_ to take it. There were benefits to it, yes, she had a _very_ healthy salary that made her life quite luxurious, but she was the assistant to DRACO MALFOY git of the century.

Ginny nodded. "That's true…but you have quite the Gringotts account!" she added grinning.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I guess there is some good to it all. And I haven't lost my job, the company will be under the control of the "second in command", Blaise Zabini if he did die. Zabini…is interesting."

"Interestingly cute. In a dark, mysterious, Slytherin sort of way."

Hermione snorted. "If that's what you like in a guy."

There was a silence, but only for a bit when Ginny asked, "do you hope Draco's dead?"

Hermione's chocolate brown eyes widened in a bit of shock. "Me? Well, no, I would never _hope_ he'd be dead…erm…perhaps I'd wish he'd be transfigured into a ferret for the rest of his life…but dead? No. Of course not." She meant it, she really did. "Do _you?_"

Ginny laughed. "Maybe…" she smirked a smirk that was quite like Fred and George's. "Oh come off it Hermione! He's a git!" She said to her friends surprised expression.

"Yes, yes you are absolutely right."

"I'm dead...I'm dead, I died, I'm dead..." Draco muttered as he slowly opened his eyes. He expected to see himself in hell, and was _extremely_ relieved to find he was still on the fourth floor of his company. He was completely bewildered at this, but extremely happy to find he hadn't died...but he _had_ to have died! Lucius never missed an opponent when dueling, but perhaps he had meant to only scare his son out of his wits to teach him a lesson. _Not likely_. That wasn't his style no matter how much Draco would like it to be. He knew his father wanted him dead, so he was probably dead.

But he didn't _feel _dead. Whatever that meant. He didn't know how it felt to be dead! He imagined it would be quite dreadful, more so on the world's part… what a sad thought! A Draco-less world...however would they survive?

But was he _really _dead? He had seen that horrible green light, and for that fleeting moment he was sure he would die. That had been terrible. The spell had enveloped him and he heard screaming, he wasn't sure if it had been him or not, but there was definitely screaming. He _had_ to have been dead...no one but Potter had survived that curse. Ha, wouldn't it be a lovely sight if he survived it too? It would wipe that smirk off of Potter's ugly face for sure!

So if he had survived (of course he did, he was Draco for Merlin's sake!) the curse probably was deflected off of him and struck his father. He looked around to try to identify where Lucius's body was, and when he turned around he was nearly wet himself when he was but two inches from his father's lunatic face. Draco's first instinct was to push his father down, which he tried, but he just passed through Lucius's body and fell to the floor. What was happening? His father hadn't budged a bit, it was like time had frozen...and he had become a ghost.

"No. You're not a ghost, and yes, you are dead." A silky feminine voice came from behind, from what he could tell she was slightly amused at his bewilderment, and he did NOT like that one bit.

He quickly got up off of the floor and jerked his body to face who had mocked him. He found himself facing a very tall, slender woman whose age he couldn't really place. Her eyes were a shade of gray much like his own, a very silvery gray that penetrated into his eyes, as if she were reading his thoughts. Her hair was like the cloak of darkness that hid the night sky, and her skin was very pale and translucent, it rivaled the Malfoy's pale countenance by far. She wore long black robes that were quite elegant, there were soft embroideries intertwined in subtle designs, and it was trimmed with black lace. There was a gem in the shape of a diamond that glittered upon her brow, and clutched in her hands was what appeared to be a rather large brass hourglass.

"W-what?" he stupidly asked, still quite stunned at the woman's sudden appearance.

"You are dead." She uttered once more, the words fell from her lips in a rather blunt and icy tone, which made him shiver a bit. Before Draco could ask questions she continued. "Time is still, but only for as long as I allow it," she motioned to her large hour glass, then continued once more "we must leave."

"Leave? Where?" He spluttered, losing his Malfoy cool, but only for a moment. "I can't leave!" He spat rather firmly.

The woman rose an eyebrow, she reminded him of Narcissa with that look on her face, and he knew when a woman gave that look, she was _not_ to be trifled with. "And why is it that we cannot leave, Mister Malfoy?" He felt like he had just plummeted into extremely icy water when she had said that, her voice was so cold. But of course he didn't let that effect his external appearance.

"Because," he sneered, "I'm Draco Malfoy! I _cannot_ die!" Death was something he surely couldn't taste of, not _now,_ anyway.

"Oh, but you _did_ die," A small smile was pressed upon her lips.

Draco clenched his jaw at this statement. "I can't die _now_..."He murmured.

"Why is that? Would the world end if you died?" If she was being sarcastic, he couldn't tell. Her face was as solemn as it had been the whole time.

His first instinct was to agree that the world would indeed end if he was not alive, but he figured that she wouldn't have a liking to that retort. Instead he said, "well...sort of."

Her eyebrows rose again when she heard him say that. "Really. Elaborate."

"I'm sure you are aware that I run the largest company in the wizarding world, and soon the muggle" said Draco proudly, "it would put a lot of people out of jobs if I died, and that would be devastating!"

She didn't look swayed one bit. No change had passed through her features; she just stared at him.

"Please!" he called out quite desperately. "I'll do anything! I'll...give up my evil ways! Give money to charity, go devote my time to...Merlin forbid, to SERVICE!" he was not at all pleased when she began to chuckle slightly.

"I'm _begging_ you, and Malfoy's _don't_ beg!"

"Very well, mister Malfoy. You have caught me in a good mood (he wanted to snort at this statement, but refrained) and I'll give you a task that you must complete to be given life again."

Draco gave a relieved sigh, "thank you."

"No, thank _you_, this should prove to be a very amusing spectacle, my task."

'Oh great...what is it that she could possibly want that could be "very amusing"? Some sort of sick entertainment...' he thought. "Anything, I'll do anything." For the sake of his company and fame, he'd do anything...maybe.

"You must make someone miss you-"

"That's it?" he suddenly asked, baffled, he had it in the bag! Surely there were thousands of his fan club that'd mourn for his absence.

She looked very cross when he had interrupted her. "Do _not_ interrupt me, Draco." she snarled, then smiled, and continued. "You must make the someone who hates you the most miss you."

Oh Merlin, it would be Potter or Weasley for sure. How would he manage to make _them_ of all people miss him? WHY would he want to? Oh yeah…he was dead.  
"She is the only one who you can appear to as a normal person, everyone else on the contrary, cannot see you, or anything that you do."

She? Unless Potter or Weasley had a sex change, it wasn't one of them..._Oh Merlin…_ he thought, _Potter and Weasley as women…_ that was _not_ a happy thought.

"You must make Hermione Granger miss your absence. You have until December 25th to complete this task, otherwise, you will remain dead." With out giving him time to protest or say anything for that matter, she snapped her fingers and disappeared.

_

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I hope you all like this okay _

Next chapter we have some Draco/Hermione interaction, I promise. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you, not much really happened I guess, just some groundwork. I have chapter three laid out in my head, and I hope to type it out by Friday! On Saturday I'm going to California for a week, and it'll be a loooong car ride so I'll be sure to write a lot in my note book, I'll hopefully be able to transfer it to my computer by my thanksgiving holiday (Nov. 25th through the 29th). Thank you for all your support and kind words! Please drop a nice review it's a good motivator!


	3. Absolute Insanity

Well, I'm a bit frustrated at the fact that I have misplaced the original document of chapter three, I had a few pages typed out, and I can't seem to find it! I'm normally quite organized with my computer files, its just the fact that I have to switch the screen names on my computer because my idiot computer does have spell check on my file name sooo I have to go to my mothers and re draft and such...so I'm just rewriting the whole thing because I'm too lazy to search for the one I already typed. I was unsatisfied with it anyway. I'll do thanks to the reviewers at the end of the chapter, I don't like it at the beginning, it's too much of a distraction. Thank you for reading!!!

oh...look! I found the chapter...good not that I'm gonna use any of it. Oh well.

Disclaimer (look! I'm doing another! all gasps ): If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be posting this on , honestly! I'd be writing it into HP and the HBP (I just had to write out "and the" because it amused me.) making a profit, mind you, and Hermione/Ron would not be happening, if I owned HP, for HG/RW reminds me too much of myself and my x boyfriend…and she and Draco is just so much better XD I must get on with the story now. Oh. And I don't claim to own the Swiffer thing, well, I **do** own one, but that isn't the point.

Chapter Three: Absolute Insanity

The world was immensely bleak, the barren field was dead beneath layers of thick, icy snow that choked the life out of any substance that needed light and warmth from the nonexistant sun, that got trapped underneath the thick blanket of gray snow. There was a thick and suffocating fog, it was unbearably dense and when Hermione passed through it she could feel the beads of moisture cling to her bare arms, chilling her to the point where her teeth chattered together, clicking softly in the dull, silent, starless night.

The proximity could be described as a winter wonderland, or a place of wretched desolation. Either way it was solitary and held the atmosphere of a soothing void, there was no exact feeling, it was just cold, it was just soft, it was just empty. No emotions lingered besides the feeling of intense chill; no fear remained on her mind as she fell into the soft frosty bed that would provide her no warmth. She lay there for a time, facing the deep starless sky that oblivion had captured and set only one jewel upon the velvet blue black fabric of night, a silvery orb of pensive reflection, staring down at her ever intently.

The soft fog passed over her, settling upon her and forming a thick mantle of chilling caress that kissed her soft skin that was exposed to the night. She blended quite well with the intense white of the field of ivory as she lay in her soft satin nightgown of white with her pale complextion that's only contrast was her radient chocolate eyes, her deep mahogany curls, and her blushing cheeks that were stained from the chill of the frosty eve. A smile of bliss played with her lips as she gazed upon the silver moon, so soft, so deep. Now there were two, two moons of pure silver gray. And she felt warmth now... she found herself quite cozy snuggled deep into what seemed to be a large warm blanket. The soft, cool caresses and kisses the fog gave her were now warm and delicate; and those moons…those beautiful silver orbs of gray still remained ever staring at her, and she smiled ever more for the absolute content she felt surpass her being. She reached up to touch the soft velvet sky, but it was now a personage, everything belonged to him. She realized this as she brushed what she thought to be the twilight, but fond it to be his soft face and He, being Draco Malfoy, smiled at her…and she froze.

Hypothermia.

Hypothermia was the only answer. She was hallucinating, **honestly**, two moons? Warm snow blankets, soft kisses, **Draco Malfoy?! **And not just that, Draco Malfoy **smiling** at her! Her, Hermione Granger, smarty-pants know-it-all! Scum under the scum on his fancy Italian leather shoe! The Mudblood!

And he was still smiling at her, beaming down at her to be exact, with all the love and pure intent that could make any girl swoon, especially coming from him! But she did not swoon. Ha! Of course not, why would she of all people be attracted to the likes of him?! Even so, this was not real. She was suffering from the dreary cold of the deep snow she had fallen in, the sanctuary of peace, and now she would die in it…oh dear. She would die! A blizzard suddenly set in…it was quite odd how quickly the winds picked up and whipped around her, and it had been a cloudless night too. It was all quite peculiar how fast the raging storm appeared. It had happened the moment she had recoiled away from Malfoy's touch, and his eyes were now devoid of all love and affection they had once showed her, they were angry, violent, hostile even, and it was like a storm was brewing behind those silver orbs of sleek perfection. And the blizzard set in.

'Merlin!'She thought, 'Surely Malfoy doesn't control the weather!' But in her hallucination he did! And from the look he was giving her, he had every intention on using it to his advantage to slaughter her. Well, maybe not **slaughter** her, but harm her immensely. He looked **heartbroken?** Curious…

But she had no time to think of that, ice was swirling about her, raucous winds howled in her ears and all contempt broke out upon her.

And she always pictured freezing to death the best way to go…you just get really cold, fall asleep…never wake up. But obviously not! Or perhaps she was still in the hallucinating stage…

Ice hammered down onto her defenseless body, rained on her and bit her with its sharp, cold bite, like a knife.

She began to run, faster and faster she fled until she suddenly stumbled and fell to the hardwood floor with a loud thud.

She hit the coffee table, knocking it over, her head throbbed and her body was aching after its short fall from the couch to the floor.

It took Hermione at least ten minutest to get herself up off the slightly scuffed hardwood floor. A light red and yellow afghan blanket was tangled around her waste, and the pillow from the couch she had been sleeping on had fallen with her, and was now laying on the back of her neck. She grunted as she glanced at her wristwatch, straining her eyes to depict what time it read. It was a little after midnight she found to her dismay; it wasn't near enough to morning as she would have anticipated. Her brow furrowed as she scolded herself for letting the dream get the best of her and falling off the couch.

Wait…why was she on a couch anyway? And it most certainly wasn't _her_ couch; it was the Weasleys.

Recollection of _why_ she was sleeping on the Weasley's couch slowly flooded her memory, Ginny had come for tea, they had a good laugh, they went back to the Weasley's and ate a lovely dinner, Fred and George passed her a tray of cookies…and black.

She let out a frustrated sigh. _Those two…_ oh they were _so_ infuriating! Surly they hadn't meant to knock her out for all of dessert into the late night, but they _had_ and they would get quite a beating from her!

A wicked grin spread over her face as she imagined what Mrs. Weasley had done when Hermione had been rendered unconscious. Oh…that would have been a lovely site to see! She wish she could have, but those two _idiots_ had to go and make her faint for nearly six hours! She scowled, trying to muster up all her anger into a brilliant scheme of how to get back at them…but that would mean war, and setting up a war with the Weasley's was never a clever idea.

She lay there for a few moments longer, playing with the worn tassels on a large Oriental rug that was under the coffee table that had been knocked over when she fell. She sat up slowly, to prevent a head rush, and put the table back in it's place, and arranged the contents that had scattered across the floor as best she could in it's proper place…which was _still_ an unorganized mess. There were old batteries, a few electrical wires and a light bulb that was broken, some old Muggle TV guides and a blue telephone with some of it's buttons missing. She smiled to herself; clearly all these eccentric useless Muggle devices belonged to Mr. Weasley. He was a very peculiar man, but a kind and affectionate one at that.

Hermione figured she wouldn't be able to sleep much on the couch, though it was very comfortable, she just didn't want another case of bewilderment if she fell on the floor once more. She went to the kitchen just down the hall and wrote a note on the Weasley's bulletin bored, which was the only thing in the household that appeared as if it had never been used. It was a blank white bored, and if she hadn't known better, she wouldn't the slightest inkling on what to make of it. But she had previously discovered the intent of the bored, and it's function. Whenever there was a message for a specific person and that member of the family walked within the kitchen, the bulletin bored shrieked at them that they had a message. It was quite amusing to watch, actually, because the voice was quite high pitched and persistent, if you did not come to retrieve the message, a magic, swift kick in the seat would attack you until you did. She witnessed this one summer when she had stayed at the Burrow with Harry in their sixth year, when there was a note left from Fred to Harry telling him not to forget his morning kick in the pants. Since Harry didn't know exactly what to do when he heard the shriek of "MESSAGE FOR H POTTER" erupted in the morning when he entered the kitchen; he didn't go straight to check what his message was. Instead, he went to get a piece of toast, and he was immediately kicked by some magic force, and the bored shrieked again, "MESSAGE FOR H POTTER, I WON'T SAY IT AGAIN" Fred and George immediately burst into hysterics.

She took her wand and used it like a pen across the magic bored and wrote,

Mrs. Weasley,

Thank you for letting me stay after the cookie mishap! It's after midnight and I'm returning home, there is no need to worry about me, I just remembered I needed to finish up some paper work for the office due back tomorrow. (which was true, but it wasn't on the top of her priorities because of the whole uncertainty of the outcome of the Malfoy battle, but she felt like she needed to finish them anyway.) So I will be off to do some last minute work (I know, so unlike me ) and will be over for dinner next Sunday night! Thank you once again!

Love,

Hermione

The letters swirled into a golden pattern, then slowly faded as the message was absorbed into the magical devise's memory.

She smiled to herself wishing to stay longer, she loved the Weasley household, she just really wanted to sleep in her own bed that night, curl up by the fire, finish a book, and be alone. Besides, she would see them all again next Sunday, as she did ever week. The whole family got together (including herself and Harry) and had a large dinner and a lot of conversation. But for now, she wanted to be alone.

But she didn't know that the very last moment of solitude she'd have for a long while, was the one she was having at that moment in the late night at the Burrow.

* * *

It wasn't that Draco expected a warm, heart-felt welcome when Hermione arrived, he actually imagined it would be _quite_ the opposite, and he looked forward to the encounter. He always enjoyed a good smirk, perhaps a slight laugh, no, not a _happy _laugh, oh by Merlin, Malfoy's don't _happy laugh_ they chuckle, they sneer, they smirk, and they intimidate. Yes, Malfoy's can manipulate intimidation in a laugh. He visualized the whole ordeal, what would happen when that bushy haired Mudblood would say, or rather _do_ when she walked into her home and found Draco's marvelous self standing in the living room. Or perhaps the kitchen. Or even better, her bedroom. He had nearly seven hours to plot the arrival of her return, so he had several scenes, one even where she revealed her darkest secret to him, that she really was in love with him and was the president of one of his many fan clubs. He smirked as he revisited this fantasy. No…not _fantasy. _Ha! Fantasies are something that a person _enjoys_, _well_, not that he wouldn't enjoy seeing Granger bow down to his uber sexy self…but…he would _never_ have a fantasy that contained a Mudblood. That was just sickening!

He had raided her Muggle food holding device, he wasn't so sure what it was called. It was an odd sort of contraption, it was rather perplexing (not that he'd admit that, Malfoy's know everything) he discovered it after he had gone on a panty raid and sorted through her underwear drawer (which was quite amusing), and he found quite an amount of food. What confused him more was there was some sort of…light emitting from a glass bulb. When he looked directly at it, it was like staring straight on at a lumos spell, but not as powerful, it just sort of imprinted the shape in the back of his eye for a few moments (which was a tad bit annoying). And curious enough, the food holder device, which he properly named FHD2000 (because 2000 after a word just makes it look fancy), was _chilled_. This strangely fascinated him, and he was very impelled to study more about the matter, but then he realized he was acting like Weasel senior! He knew his father would have none of that oddness around! Imagine a Malfoy working along side such a deranged Muggle loving fool like the balding ignoramus Weasel Senior! He scoffed immediately at that thought, and grabbed a soda and a box of Chinese takeout, vowing to never again question the wonders of the FHD2000 or any other Muggle contraption by that means. If Granger found out she would never let him live it down!

He looked at the clock on another Muggle appliance he dare not conceive _what_ it might be for fear he'd need to give that a name too, and it read 12:00 am. Wherever Granger was, he really didn't want to think of it…or did he? An evil smirk pressed his lips, where would Granger, a respectable witch and secretary (not in _his_ opinion, of course, of the worlds) be doing past a respectable curfew? Well, he supposed midnight wasn't all that late, but she had been out since at least four o'clock that afternoon, he began to wonder if she too had died. Would that keep him in terms dead too? Would his chance be gone if she turned up daisies? That wouldn't be very fair now would it? Perhaps then he would have to get the next person in line that hated him after Granger to miss him.

He pushed that thought away as he returned to the front room where he sat upon a large plush sofa which was facing a rather peculiar silver box with a black screen. It looked rather sleek, and it had a few buttons along the bottom, and this compelled him to press them. He reached the box's front and looked at the buttons that had miniscule writing below them, one larger read 'power' to the left there were two smaller buttons that had the word 'volume' printed below one sign that resembled an arrow pointing up, and the other pointing down. Then there was another pair of buttons that looked like the ones labeled 'volume' but these were labeled 'channel'. He pressed the power button and was quite astonished when the box flashed and light was emitting slowly from the box, forming a picture. _And it was talking!_ Peculiar! It was some sort of ad trying to persuade the viewer to buy a "Swiffer" whatever that was. He sat down quite close to the talking, picture box and watched what exactly the Swiffer was. Apparently, from what he could perceive, it was like a high tech broom, but they weren't flying on it, they were _cleaning_. That, he found extremely odd. What stupid Muggle contraptions.

Before he could clearly focus on the next ad, there was a loud crack that startled him, making him curse as he dumped some rice on his pants. He promptly recognized the sound as an apperation, and he looked up to find his suspicions were correct, Hermione was home.

When she saw him, it was exactly how he's planned it, well, in _most_ of his schemes, not the one where she ended up loving him and being his adoring fan and such, but the one where she had a completely mortified look on her face.

"Surprise love!" Said Draco in a mock cheerful voice, grinning broadly.

_

* * *

I'm really sorry, I didn't get to read over the second half of this! So if there are silly mistakes, I'm reeeally sorry ok? I just wanted to get this up before my computer time was up -glares at parents- _

Okay, I actually intended to get into the part where Draco told her about the whole him being dead thing. Actually…I planned EVERYTHING different, this just sort of appeared. And I like it I knooow I promised actual Draco/Hermione interaction, but instead you get an early update! Haha yeah, a day early, but early non the less! And they SORTA interacted, did they not, in the dream, in the end…please don't hurt me!

I'm sorry if the dream sequence seemed dreadfully confusing, but it has meaning and such, just wait ok? I've really been nature happy lately because of my honors English course, we're reading Frankenstein, and there is a lot of significance in the way Mary Shelly writes nature and the mood set of the characters. No, I'm not dreadfully depressed, I'm just way into "me time" haha solitude!

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I'm glad I changed the direction of it, the other was dreadfuly boring for me to write, and I figure if I find it boring to write, you'll find it boring to read, and I trust this was interesting? Draco meets swiffer eh? Haha I hope I didn't make him seem **too** uninformed of Muggle life, I just figure his father taught him nothing other than to hate the Muggle world, so how would he know what a refrigerator or a TV is! And I hope I had him in character well enough, I don't think Draco would let the fascination with Muggle inventions get the best of him, even though I must say, the television is a wonderful concept! Swiffers however…

Anyway, I hope I didn't dissapoint you with this chapter, and maybe you'll all be lucky enough to receive another before I leave to lovely Disneyland on Saturday (I don't know about it though…we'll see.) If not, I promise one as soon as I get back on the following Saturday, if I can get everything typed and edited well enough.

Now to the thank you notes!

Redtiger24: you're such a weirdo Jon, I knooow I said say it was funny, but I was being sarcastic! This story really didn't get funny until I incorporated swiffers and the FHD2000! Haha non the less, thanks for the review cuz!

Delayed Action Ninja: Those writers blocks are so evil! brandishes spork at writers block's way ohhh how evil they are…haha thank you for your kind words and I hope all is well in the world for you now that I've updated like I said!

Avocado75: You 're very right, I hadn't thought of that before, that's really interesting! It's ironic, the original plot line for this story (which I rearranged because it would have been waaay too complicated) was inspired by a Smallville episode I saw, or well, the commercial for it anyway. I absolutely love going to Cali I believe we're staying in San Diego, but I could be wrong. We're going to Disneyland and California Adventure, which should be exciting, I've never been to the California Adventure yet I can't wait to visit the beach (though it isn't really beach season, now is it?) haha thank you for your review and loyalty (even if it has only been two chapters!)

NitenGale: haha Draco must do it because I command him! Haha and I believe as we have seen in this chapter, he's going to be quite amused for a looong time. I promise you, he will relish every moment of driving poor Hermione absolutely mad!

Cold-Eyes-For-You: I really do enjoy depicting his personality, I really get a kick outta his ego! Thanks for the review!

Trapped-in-a-dream: Why thank you I really like your name, btw

_witchchild280: There will be more of the mysterious lady, she is a really fun character, I guess I really enjoy writing the mysterious, smirky type of people And sorry for the lack of Hermione/Draco interaction heh, I planned on it, but my imagination decided to hold that off till next chapter. I enjoy reading things with Blaise as a prime character, because there are so many ways to depict him, but normally he's really dark and secretive, or carefree and happy (well, for a Slytherin, anyway) Do you have a preference? I'm just taking reference for future chapters Thank you! _

BabyGooGoo2: I'm glad I could make some sense of that all thanks again for your time and review!

KriCet x0: I'm glad you liked thank you!

American-born-confused-desi: Thank you! I'm glad you liked!

ShimmeringEvil: Here's the update I promised! Thank you! I like your name btw

LillaBella: Hey, thanks for the review! Made me grin it's here now!!!!! I can't wait to hear from you again!

****

Mwah, hugs and kisses to those who review! Well, hugs and kisses from Draco, on the count of that probably will appeal to you more!

Support house colors! FRIDAY!!!! Haha inside joke I guess you could say, a few friends and I decided to sport our "house colors" on Friday, I was deemed a Slytherin (by my self) and so were the other girls, we however, deemed the other boy a Hufflepuff P mwahah must find my green and silver now!!!! Thank yooou! REVIEW!


	4. Curses!

**_I'm terrible, I know, I kept you waiting AND I haven't proofed this copy oo don't kill me! I'm sick and tired of this chapter! I really liked writing this draft, but I've written and rewritten this chapter nearly five times and I'm SICK of it! So please, I'm pretty sure there aren't any really terrible mistakes, but if there are, forgive me, point them out, and if I deem them worthy enough to fix for later readers, I will change them. I'm positive there are spelling errors, because I am me, and I am a horrid speller -- so forgive me for that too, if you can't desipher what I was trying to come across with, tell me, I'll change it. Is this one too rushed?-bites nails- oh dear, i hopenot. Let me knowif you think so!that is something i HATE so I'll fix it!!Well, on to chapter four! _**

**Chapter Four: Curses!**

"Surprise love!" Said Draco in a mock cheerful voice, grinning broadly as he watched her expression quite intently. He drank in every detail he possibly could decipher, something he was quite accustomed to doing. He found that Granger often wore her expressions on her sleeve, and by analyzing her, was able to pin point what would aggravate her the best.

This task could have been quite difficult to others, those who were not quite aquainted to Granger's fine line of anger and calm disposition, for sometimes she was able to feign an impartial temperament, oh but he had grown accustom to how she truly was, considering he had known her for nearly half his life. He had Granger nearly figured out.

_Nearly._

There were times where she surprised him, to say the least. And in some, sadistic, morbid way, he enjoyed it when she was able to astonish him.

Though that time when she hit him in third year…_that_ he hadn't particularly enjoyed. Nor did he find it funny when she infested his bed in seventh year with ferrets when they shared a dorm as Head students. Though he knew the Wonder Trio had probably helped her with that, along with the Weasel twins.

_Curse them._

But at this precise moment, he felt it was his duty, _no_, obligation, to pay her back for all those times where she put him in his place. Draco Malfoy felt the _need_ to give her a reality slap to remind her that the world revolved around him.

And to this, he smirked inwardly, but it was quickly removed when he realized that _she_ was giving _him_ a reality slap.

_Curse her._

He expected her to scream or yell at him, and probably a few hexes with it (though he did not really want to suffer through the pain she could cause him) but this was far worse.

She just _looked_ at him.

How dare she! How dare she do something he had not already anticipated?! The _nerve_ of that Mudblood! It just boiled his Pureblood!

Draco returned her stare, held it fast, his lopsided grin still intact. But he found he had never quite held one of her cold stares before, and to his dismay, he felt she was quite _intimidating._ He scoffed the thought of _her _intimidating _him_ of all people! But there he was, feeling a bit twitchy.

Granger did not glare at him, her glares he could handle, but she had this look of annoyance, as if he were some cumbersome inconvenience she had to bare. A look his _Father _had given him before. Her lips were a thin line, and her hazel brown eyes were looking at him in a very cold transfixion of distaste to his existence. Her brow was arched, in a sort of expecting manner, a look that a mother gave her child when she found him doing something against the rules. She even held her hand on her hip! Merlin, he already had parents! One murdered him, and the other was in a white padded room for all he knew!

He was raised by nutters…oh. Merlin. He was just as bad off as Granger was! Mudblood and all, he was DEAD! _Murdered_ by his _noble_ father!

This was not time to think of that. He had Granger to annoy, but that plan seemed to have backfired.

His grin had long since faltered, he now sported a very _pouty_ persona, arms crossed and all. He knew he must look ridiculous, SO?! He ruled the world after all! Erm…maybe not _rule_ but close enough. One day all would name him king!

Merlin, he sounded like Voldemort…

A resounding silence, as oxy-moron as that is, filtered the atmosphere, Draco decided he did not appreciate being on the intimidated end of a silence such as the formerly mentioned. He wracked his brain for something extremely witty that had to do with the present relativity, but he was extremely irritated when he could not come up with a single one, so he muttered a defiant, "Mudblood!" in turn of making him sound, and feel, like a complete git.

Granger, in turn, did not so much as bat an eyelash at this rather irrelevant and rude comment. She swiftly unlatched her cloak, and with a swish, tossed it in Draco's direction, it landed on his head, draping over his face so he could not see.

He spluttered a bit, cursed a few times at how she out did her again and…for just a moment, inhaled deeply, inviting her sugary scent to fill his lungs.

_Curse her!_

Distracting him from his annoyance at her cloak! It just had to smell so good!

He ripped it off his face as fast as he possibly could, ready to send some nasty comment her way, but found she had already quitted the room and was nearly at the top of the stairs, which probably lead to her bedroom.

Draco sat there for a moment, wondering for a bit why he had not previously thought of raiding her knicker drawer! Well, he did have till Christmas!

* * *

Seeing Draco Malfoy in her sitting room was not something Hermione really anticipating when she Apperated home, but she did try with all her might to not let it bother her. 

Oh who was she kidding?

Seeing that blonde git in her living room eating her week old take-out was something that absolutely _baffled _her! Though, she was quite a bit more angered at the site of him, than shocked.

How did he get there in the first place? More importantly, _why_ was he there? She hadn't the slightest inkling on why he would drop by, she knew it was not for a friendly visit, it _was_ one o'clock in the morning, after all. And Malfoy's don't _do_ 'friendly visits', especially in a _Mudblood's_ home.

She gave out an impatient sigh and decided she did not care, nor believe that Draco Malfoy was watching television and eating take-out in her living room.

_Curse that cookie!_

_Curse Fred and George!_

It was bad enough she had been rendered unconscious for quite a few hours, but now she was hallucinating that a blonde pig was in her house!

Hermione entered the Master Bath, which door was located to the left of her bed, and splashed icy water across her extremely fatigued face. As she did so, her eyes caught her reflection in the mirror. She had to say she looked a fright at this late hour, but she _felt_ even worse.

She had seen the complete aggravation she had placed into Malfoy's façade, she saw for a brief moment in his dull gray eyes (though she could hardly call them _dull_, but she chided herself for thinking so, even deep down that they were anything _but_ dull.) something akin to intimidation burning beneath the surface. Only a moment of it was brought to her attention, had she blinked, she would have missed it.

_She_, Hermione Granger, had intimidated a _Malfoy_, if only for a moment. Well, hallucination Malfoy, anyhow.

And it seemed that she presented herself well enough to hide the fact she was deeply intimidated herself.

He always had a way of making her feel _ugly_. No, ugly was not the word, for she felt she was relatively presentable, nothing gorgeous, but pretty enough (though she knew Malfoy would never find her pretty...not that she cared of course.) _Worthless_ was more the word to her liking. Or rather distaste.

She never cared to be thought as beautiful around him, no, that was Zabini's secretary's job. She snorted, those two were both scum. She was loaded with twice the work because Zabini's secretary did nothing! Well, except shagging both the vice and president of the company…so while these little rendezvous occurred, she was swamped with twice the work. She was proud to say she was not a bimbo like, what was her name? Courtney? Britnee? No, it was Trixie.

She hardly doubted her real name was Trixie.

But that was not the point, she was always inferior because she was smart, she was efficient, and she was quite intellectual. Had she been a Pureblood man, she probably would have bought out Malfoy Industries by now.

The truth was, she wasn't, and she dealt with it every day. She was treated less than mediocre, but she was far above that. The only men who ever treated her with such respect were Harry and Ron. She loved them both dearly, and possibly, just _possibly_, she could see herself romantically involved with one of them, but neither were, at the present time, available to be in a 'romantic relationship' with her. Harry was seriously dating Ginny, and Ron, well, Ron was single and very much liking it.

Besides, she didn't want to date Ron anyhow. They dated once before, but that ended rather quickly.

Not a good story for the moment.

How was it that Draco Malfoy, even in her own home, could make her feel worthless?

Oh she hated him. She really, really hated him.

She had many reasons to hate that wanker, but the current one that feasted on her emotions was how he was just so…oh she hated to admit it.

But he was just so perfect!

And it wasn't fair. At all.

They both matched wits in equality, she had even been ahead of him in her school years, he was second to her. But he had been born to Pureblood heritage, which gave him the advantage.

Not that she'd trade any moment she had with her Muggle parents for a Pureblood life…but it was just so unfair!

He was such a bigot, and so was the rest of the world, she _loathed_ it. She would be working in the Ministry still, had it been for that great git called Minister Fudge. He hadn't been such a bother when she worked in the Auror field, but any other he probably would treat her so terribly.

Probably because she tried to have him sacked a few times.

Pity she failed.

_Curse Fudge!_

No wait, Curse Malfoy more, for he was the reason she was tearing herself apart like this!

_'Goodness,'_ she thought, _'get yourself together Hermione; you're above all this Malfoy junk!'_

She stiffened her posture, quitted her room and regally stepped down the stairs to observe if Malfoy was truly in her home.

She let out a sigh of pure relief as she found the living room empty. She chided herself for being so silly as to think Malfoy had been in her home, stupid cookie…

But then she realized she had tossed her cloak across the room to where hallucination Malfoy had been, and it was no where to be found. Also, there was an empty take-out box on the coffee table.

_Merlin, No!_

Suddenly, Malfoy rushed out of the kitchen with a knife in hand, which he brandished like a sword, wearing her cloak, and terrorizing her cat.

It was priceless, seeing him like that, oh she wished she had her camera on hand!

Crookshanks ran up the stares, brushing past her leg, hissing and spitting, and Malfoy's eyes followed the cat all the way to her, where his gaze stopped abruptly.

She was _smirking_ at him.

And he was looking quite sheepish, brandishing a cooking knife wearing her cloak like a long swishing cape. He was quite the sight to behold.

"Enjoying yourself?" she drawled before she realized she was not only smirking, but speaking like _he_ does.

Malfoy regained composure quite quickly and unlatched her cloak as he cleared his throat and shrugged. "Stupid cat scratched me." He muttered.

"Would you like to tell me what in Merlin's name you are doing here?"

A look of thoughtfulness swept over his face, mocking her question. "Hummm. No. Not really."

She raised her eyebrows and gave him 'the look' again, which manipulated anyone.

Even a Malfoy.

"Just kidding Granger, sheesh, no need to give me that look of wrath you have. Tell me, is that how Potter defeated Voldemort? He stood behind you as you gave that foul look to the Dark Lord? Impressive!" He clapped his hands to mock her, which only increased the satisfying image of Malfoy being tortured in various ways.

"Yes, it was something like that." She snapped. "Now, I believe you were telling me what you are doing in my house?"

"Well, it is really quite a lengthy story, but I'll sum it up for you, _just_ for you."

"Oh how courteous of you." Hermione replied, quite sarcastically.

He cleared his throat, indicating he was ready to begin his tale.

And what a tale it was.

Once he had finished telling the story, he gave a mock bow and said, "well, there you have it! That's why I'm here!"

Hermione just stared at him, she didn't give him 'the look' like she had done previously, she just stared at him incredulously. "Let me get this straight…You're dead."

"Yup."

"but you got another chance in life."

"Mmhmm."

"But only if the person who hates you most, or, me, misses you?"

"Yes, that is precisely what I said, ten points to your house, Miss Granger." Said Malfoy, being his annoying self.

Hermione stared at him a bit more, not sure if she should laugh in his face or not. She was almost certain that was what he believed she would do. That or fall into his arms and confess her undying love to him, he was such a conceited prick. So she decided to take a different approach, surprise him once more.

"Well," she said smiling as sweetly as she could at the albino snake in front of her, "good luck with that!" Before he could protest to her comment, she quitted the stairs and ascended back up to her room with a contented smirk playing on her lips. The last thing she heard from him was a muffled, "Curse you Granger!"

* * *

**_Well know, off to reviews and such. BUT FIRST ME!! haha ok ok, i just want to give a brief sum of my vacation in California, it was great fun! We went to Carlsbad California, and we stayed in a resort right off the beach (thank you grandma!) haha anyway, some family came w/ us, and we went to Disneyland and California Adventure, which was soooo fun. I had never been to California Adventure, it was CLASSIC. Oh I love that park!_**

**_And now to the reviews!_**

**_DracoMalfoyIsHot888: no Dani, I won't put your stinking letters in wEiRd format because it's too COMPLICATED right now! lol thank you for your kind reviews, yes I stole your house, but cummon, I'm not brave, I'm smart, but not really all THAT into my studies, I'm most certainly NOT a hufflepuff..I'm too mean for that hahaha sooo Slytherin! Nooo Draco has nothing to do with my choice the c2 idea was brillient, wasn't it? I absolutly go post crazy on the c2 heh!_**

**_Delayed Action Ninja: Yes, hugs AND kisses!!! JUST FOR YOU! mwahaha! because no one else mentioned them. So here passes a hand cuffed Draco to you (heh a bit dirty don't you think?) now, i'm sharing, which isn't in my nature haha. Yes, I'm really excited to write when they realize their feelings for each other, but FIRST they're going to drive each other insane!!!! Thank you for your review!_**

**_Kate-Felton: haha yes, well, i soiled the story by mentioning Ron, didn't I? Well, it was in a derogitory sence, so I suppose its ok, right? I really don't like him much...Idk he's growing on me. A bit. But not Ron/Hermione. Thanks for the review!_**

**_BabyGooGoo2: Your review cracked me up, YES I'm a HP obsessed dork! And YOU are a loyal reader and reviewer of my story, now what exactly does that tell you? haha thanks for your erm lovely comment._**

**_trapt-in-a-dream: Yes, seeing your dead boss would be a bit erm, odd, don't you think? Well, at the time, she didn't know he was dead, so that's a good thing. Thank you for your review!!!_**

**_sweetytweety013: Here's the update! Thank you for the nice review!_**

**_avocado75: I always love hearing from you! You're one of my favorite reviewers I had a really fun time in California, and writing Draco and his discovery of Muggle contraptions was quite fun ohhh how i love writing that boy onto paper. thank you for your loyalty!_**

**_NitenGale: Yesssh I'm sugar high Oo what about you? lol I'm sorry to disappoint you, I hope I pleased you with the interaction here. I promise, it'll get better, and you will LOVE it!_**

**_LillaBella: heh thank you I hope this chapter met up to your expectations!_**

**_witchchild280: Thank you for your input!!! I'm trying to shoot everything from a more original perspective, soBlaise will come off a bit differently than the normal Blaise I have seen. I'm not one partial to slash, but I'm reading a Hermione/Draco where Blaise is bisexual, it'smore for humorthan hard core slashing.Ah yes, braces...just a few more months until mine are gone.You're the second person here that's considered me tall! I don't find myself really 'tall'I'm more average where I come from I suppose.shrugs thank you for your comment _**

**_Galixia: Thank you for the nice comment, but I must ask, where is Death Curse at? heh I normally stick to for myfanfiction needs, butit wouldn't hurt to check this place out thanks once a gain!_**

**_American-born-confused-desi: Ahhh but writing cliffies are sooo fun! reading however...not so fun. lol I'll try not to do TOO many cliff hangers. Well, just as long as I continue the next chapter quickly heh thank you for the nice review!_**

**_cold-eyes-for-you: Heh yeah, I really liked that line too, sorta why I used it the fun is not over yet, I promise there will be lots more humor soon _**

**_canadian-desert-princess: Just tell me what you want to know, and I'll tell you go ahead and give me an e-mail, and do let me know when you start a fiction!_**

**_slyswn28: I'm glad I was able to paint a vivid picture! I do try, I hope this one isn't too rushed. Thank you!_**


	5. Vacated

Chapter Five: Vacated

Draco Malfoy haunted her dreams once more that night, but this bedtime fantasy was nothing like the prior one she had received. _There was hardly a touch of feeling looming in her mind, every sense she viewed in was very delayed as well as being slightly obscured. It was like she was watching a silent movie in slow motion. The sound of what appeared to be similar to the light crackle that the old movies gave, was really the pounding of rain as she watched herself stand solemnly in an illusion. Thunderous rain fell from cloudless skies and fell onto what was supposed to be the ground. She was standing on clouds, about her ankles danced a thick vapor of cloud! It was as if everything had reversed in some way. She looked up to behold the rain falling from a thick black nothing, blurred by sheets of rain, and the ground being the sky…odd. _

As the dream progressed, she found herself standing…just standing, in the downpour, watching…

Watching what?

She could not tell. But that was what she was doing as the rains fell, soaking her body in an intense chill. She did not mind, however, despite the fact every exhale she gave her breathe was visible in the winter chill, because what she watched had captured her interest and made her quite appeased.

There he stood, and like her, he was transfixed. He stood a short distance from her; rains drenching his pallid features, running out of his hair and dripping on his cheeks that were slightly colored from the piercing chill. He was captivating, his beauty like that of a Veela and his radiance shone even through the abundant shower of rain.

His lips were turned up ever so slightly as he watched her, matching her expression but with more of a smirk than she held. His clothes clung to his tall lean form; the white linen dress shirt was slightly transparent as it clung to his torso, giving him even more allure.

Draco smirked a bit more, and turned away from her, but he beckoned her to follow him, which she willingly obliged. He was running from her, wanting her to chase him, so Hermione broke out into a full sprint, the cool vapor clung to her bare feet as she made her way towards him as swiftly as possible.

He ran into an area where the cloudy grounds were no more, and cold hard asphalt replaced it. Large puddles had formed and she splashed through them, some of them were deep enough to soak her mid calf. Draco finally turned around, silver eyes glinting, and slowed his pace so she could catch him.

When she finally caught him, she flung her arms around his neck at full force, knocking him over into a large puddle that gave quite a large splash.

He lay his head down into the shallow puddle; his wet, white-blonde locks stuck to his forehead, which Hermione brushed away with her left hand. With her other hand, she unconsciously ran her fingers lightly upon the semitransparent sleeve on his forearm, where his seemingly perfect skin bore a horrid mar of a black skull that possessed a snake protruding from its open mouth like a tongue.

Her gaze lingered on the Dark Mark, which was quite apparent through his thin, wet dress shirt.

She licked her dry lips and returned her stare to his silver gaze and simply said, "Death Eater."

* * *

It was still dark outside when she awoke, the digital clock she had by her bedside read in vibrant red numbers "4:38 AM" which was nearly a half hour before she normally started her day. She knew she would not be able to retreat back into sleep; it would take far to long for her to fall to sleep once more, and she was not sure if she even wanted to if Draco Malfoy would haunt her in her sleep!

She let out a sigh of discontent of the occurrences of last night reappeared in her thoughts. Draco Malfoy was dead, she, apparently, hated him the most, the Death Angel granted him a last chance at life by letting him haunt Hermione until she went completely mad and began to miss the little ferret!

He would haunt her forever; she knew it! That was just how he was. And if she eventually gave in and "missed him", he would rub it in her face when he "returned" to life.

But what if she made things so incredibly difficult that he would no longer wish to live? It would be difficult, and probably take an extremity of time, but if it meant no more Malfoy _period_, well, that was something worth working towards.

She smiled lightly. No more Malfoy meant she could quite Malfoy International, which meant she could have a job she actually enjoyed, anywhere in the Wizarding world! She would then have enough money and time to start Medi-Witch schooling, get her degree and become a trained Healer, or perhaps a teacher at Hogwarts, or _Ministress of Magic!_

While her hopes and dreams ran rampant, she began her morning rituals that normal people went through, such as shower, dress, etc. She quitted her bedroom in high spirits, reflecting on all the positive factors of the death of Malfoy, as blunt and awful as it sounded, but it was true. Thank heavens he was dead.

Once Malfoy left her alone, which at some point he would now that she was in control of his life (literally!) she would be able to have the life she had always wanted! As she thought about it, the thought crossed her mind that she might actually enjoy having a dead ferret in her home.

Oh who was she kidding! Draco Malfoy always found some sort of way to manipulate a situation to his liking, and this circumstance was no different.

Hermione could never win, and it drover her mad.

Well, at least she could quit her job.

* * *

At 5:21 am, the office of Draco Malfoy was deprived of the common noises one hears in a wizarding business such as Malfoy International. There were no quills scratching against fine parchment, no swooping of owls exchanging the latest mail, no ongoing reports of the small businesses under the Malfoy's insane monopoly control, just absolute quiet. 

Blaise Zabini enjoyed quiet; perhaps that was why he was a morning person. But this morning he loathed the stillness about him. It was the sort of silence that was deafening, as contradictory as that may imply, but it simply was an unnerving silence. Perhaps it was just because he was in a foul mood when he read the morning's paper, denying all facts that Draco Malfoy died over the weekend. Lucius had fled the crime scene, and several sources stated that he had left England too. There was no trace of Malfoy's body, which was hardly surprising. Lucius was a master of the Unforgivables, and his killing curse had nearly obliverated the office on the fourth floor. Blaise did not even know why there was an investigation, it was quite obvious that Draco was murdered, and would _not_ be coming back. If, however, some miracle had occurred and Draco would have come out on top, he would be _strutting_ about, proclaiming how he saved the wizarding world from his deranged father.

The fool.

Blaise sneered. He utterly _despised_ the Malfoys, but he tolerated their presence. It was a wise business choice, and Draco was too thick to notice the enmity Blaise held for him. Well, _thick_ was not really the appropriate word choice, nor was daft. Blaise had always had a way to blend in with everyone else in his school days. That was how he liked things, he got what he wanted by focus, and by causing a stir by being turned into a white ferret was not his first priority in making it in the world. Blaise knew what he wanted and would stop at nothing to achieve what he wanted, even if it meant tolerating the Malfoy family.

Blaise Zabini wanted power.

It was not if his family was not a distinct name, but it was not as high as the Malfoy's. Blaise was never one to care much for social status; he wasn't really _social. _He did however have a keen interest business and knew what to invest in. The reason Malfoy International had gotten so big was because Blaise had monopolized small Wizarding businesses under the M.I. name. Blaise was the brains, and Malfoy was the money, but of course, Malfoy got credit for both.

That was the starting point to Blaise's extreme distaste toward Draco Malfoy.

That, and he hated the way he drank coffee every morning. He was an Englishman for Merlin's sake, not some lazy American who can't wake up with out a fix of coffee! He preferred his tea to anything else, and he expected his tea precisely when he arrived to work, no matter what the time. He liked things that ran on _his_ schedule, and if his employees did not know his schedule, they could consider life a living hell from that moment on.

Granger had not prepared his morning tea on time.

She would be punished for that. Severely.

His eyes were fixated upon the large double doors that were to the opposing side of him, waiting for the brass handle to click open revealing some poor soul who he could unleash his wrath upon.

It gave him enormous satisfaction to see Granger enter the door at that moment, holding a coffee cup in each hand. "Oh," her eyes went wide, "I didn't expect you to be here so early sir," she smiled, "I brought you coffee!"

She was trying to suck up, he could tell. And all those memories of teacher's pet Hermione Granger came flooding back.

Blaise sat quite rigid in Malfoy's plush leather chair, not once enjoying the materialism Malfoy so adored. His deep blue eyes narrowed as he gazed upon her. He knew she would be surprised to see him there, Malfoy never entered the building for another hour or so, he was convinced that the world revolved around him, and that the company would only start on his command. Blaise had a similar preference, though he was not as arrogant about it. "You're late Miss Granger." He growled.

She frowned, "the company doesn't start until six, sir, I just have the key because I get here early a lot and-"

"You're wasting my time Granger with your unnecessary blubbering. You are late and that is final." Blaise suddenly felt like he was Professor Snape and had the sudden urge to take off fifty points from her house. But this wasn't school anymore, this was real life, and he could fire her. "Mr. Malfoy is dead, Granger, and I expect you to learn how I run things. When I say you are late, you are late, I suggest you get up extra early to beat me to the office," he grinned maliciously, "I'm an early riser, and I like my tea immediately when I arrive."

He could almost feel the anger and frustration radiating from her, he could now see why Malfoy loved antagonizing the girl, it was just _too_ easy. He relished the idea of how much agrivation he would cause her in the future.

"Sir, I suggest you find a replacement for me," her voice shook slightly, "I'm quitting."

Now _that_ was something he hadn't quite expected off the bat. He didn't realize that she would actually have the audacity to actually _quit._ He was actually quite surprised that she had done so, and he _hated_ being surprised.

"So you're giving me a two weeks notice then?" He scoffed, regaining his intimidating poise. There was no way she'd last under his control for two weeks if she already wanted to quit. She has just showed him a weakness he planned to exploit for his own sick pleasure.

He then realized that she must have already thought of this, because she immediately replied, "My two weeks are up, I would tell you to ask Malfoy, but," she grinned slightly, "he's dead. I just need to get some things from my office and I'm gone."

Blaise felt his blood boil, he wasn't ready to let her go so easily, but before he could say anything else, she had left to get her things.

He hated losing.

* * *

Hermione shut her office door and set her coffee cups on the desk beside her, and let out a sigh. She had planned on staying for a full two weeks, like she was supposed to, but she somehow found herself lying to Blaise about already submitting one to Malfoy. She bit her lip, feeling guilt flow over her. She _hated_ lying, even if it meant avoiding someone like Zabini, she had too much of a conscience she supposed. It was always like her to be such a goody good. She let out another sigh, deciding it would be best to quickly pack her belongings and get out of the MI building before Zabini could chew her out again. Once she was finished, she apparated back to her flat, not quite anticipating what Malfoy would think of her sudden decision to quit his company.

* * *

_Heh…heh…I'm alive guys…just barely survived a massive writers block…right! Heh._

Okay. I lost interest I love the idea of this story, and I have soooo many more ideas for the plot I want to finish, it's just, I've been way swamped with writing in my advanced English coarse, it just sucked all the fun out of it! I'm sorry if the last part of this story seems rushed, with Hermione quitting and all…It's supposed to be sudden, it's kinda hard to get the full detail of what was going on in Hermione's head w/ out it being in her POV, and I was writing Blaise's. There will be an explanation of what she was thinking in the next chapter, I promise…I just don't know how long it will be till I post…heh…don't hurt me please! Many thanks to all who reviewed, I absolutely love reading your reviews! They do motivate me, I'm just extremely lazy lol.

Once again, I'm sorry if the ending of this is rushed, I really want to post and…I'm sick of this chapter. If I don't post now, it won't get posted for another few weeks most likely, I'm just horrid like that lol. 3 to reviews!

By the way, I'm changing the tittle, I absolutely HATE it. So yeah, I've changed my penname and the tittle! Woo!


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